Royal baby news: THIS is why Victoria and Albert are bookies' favourites

PUNTERS are piling in with wagers on the name of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby, with Victoria and Albert currently top of the betting – and one Royal expert explaining why Queen Victoria’s “remarkable” rehabilitation makes her a popular choice.

Could Meghan and Harry's baby be named after Queen Victoria (Image: GETTY)

According to bookmaker Coral, Victoria is currently 8-1 favourite to be the choice of the Royal couple when their baby, which is due in April, is born. Meanwhile, Albert – the name of her husband, Albert, Prince Consort – is close behind, at 10-1. Richard Fitzwilliams, the former editor of The International Who’s Who, was unsurprised at the spread of betting, given the stature of the former Queen.

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Richard Fitzwilliams

He said: “The rehabilitation of Queen Victoria has been remarkable.

“Her image had previously been grim and puritanical and the Victorian era was linked to social evils and imperialism.

"The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was part of this as there was a resurgence of interest in Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and in this truly remarkable monarch.”

Mr Fitzwilliams said a BBC television series starring Jenna Coleman, as well as the acclaimed Mrs Brown, starring Dame Judi Dench, which chronicled her friendship with Scottish equerry John Brown, and Victoria and Albert, which starred Emily Blunt and Rupert Fried, were also “pivotal”.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expecting their first child in April (Image: GETTY)

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge (Image: GETTY)

He added: “It has come to be realised that the marriage between Victoria and Albert is one of history’s great royal romances.

“If they were to name the baby after either of them, and the odds currently seem to favour it, Harry and Meghan would be paying tribute to this as well as the foundations this devoted couple laid for today’s monarchy.

“When Victoria came to the throne the institution was far from popular after the excesses and wayward personal lives of members of the royal family.

“She and Albert changed its image and are one of the reasons it is so potent a symbol of national unity today.”

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Queen Victoria, who married Prince Albert in 1840, was heartbroken by his death (Image: GETTY)

Other popular baby names when it comes to people having a flutter include Philip and Diana (also 10-1), Alice and Arthur, both 12-1, and Alfred, at 16-1.

Doria (the name of Meghan’s mum) is an outside bet at 50-1.

Coral spokesman Harry Aikenhead said: “It won’t be long now until the latest Royal baby is welcomed into the family, and the name is always a popular thing for punters to bet on.

“At the moment it is Victoria that leads the way and is our favourite to be the name of Harry and Meghan’s first child, whilst famous Royal names Diana and Philip have also been popular in the betting.”

Victoria became Queen on May 24, 1837, at the age of just 18 following the death of her uncle, William IV.

She was on the throne for 64 years until her death on January 22, 1901 at the age of 81, making her Britain’s longest-reigning monarch until Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her last year.

Victoria married Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg, in 1840, and together they had nine children before her husband’s untimely death in 1961, possibly from typhus.

Devastated, she largely retired from public life, with her seclusion earning her the nickname “widow of Windsor”.

Nevertheless, with the industrial revolution in full swing, the Victorian era saw Britain become increasingly influential on the world stage.

Biographers including Elizabeth Longford and Cecil Woodham-Smith have written widely regarded books about her.